Arrangements and methods thereof for processing video

ABSTRACT

A method performed by a video encoder for encoding a current picture belonging to a temporal level identified by a temporal_id. The method includes determining a Reference Picture Set (RPS) for the current picture indicating reference pictures that are kept in a decoded picture buffer (DPB) when decoding the current picture, and when the current picture is a temporal switching point. The method further comprises operating to ensure that the RPS of the current picture includes no picture having a temporal_id greater than or equal to the temporal_id of the current picture.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/661,053, filed on 27 Jul. 2017, which itself is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/394,178, filed on 13 Oct. 2014, nowU.S. Pat. No. 9,749,644, which itself is a 35 U.S.C. § 371 nationalstage application of PCT International Application No.PCT/SE2013/050409, filed on 15 Apr. 2013, which itself claims thebenefit of U.S. provisional Patent Application No. 61/624,496, filed 16Apr. 2012, the disclosures and contents of each of which areincorporated by reference herein in their entirety. The above-referencedPCT International Application was published in the English language asInternational Publication No. WO 2013/158020 A1 on 24 Oct. 2013.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The embodiments relate to arrangements, i.e. an encoder, an element, areceiver, a transmitter, computer program products, computer programs,and methods for processing video. In particular, the embodiments relateto video processing supporting temporal layers.

BACKGROUND

High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is a new video coding standardcurrently being developed in Joint Collaborative Team-Video Coding(JCT-VC). JCT-VC is a collaborative project between MPEG and ITU-T.Currently, a Committee Draft (CD) is defined that includes a number ofnew tools and is considerably more efficient than H.264/AVC.

A picture coded/decoded according to HEVC is partitioned into one ormore slices, where each slice is an independently decodable segment ofthe picture. This means that if a slice is missing, for instance gotlost during transmission, the other slices of that picture can still bedecoded correctly. In order to make slices independent, they are selfcontained and do not depend on each other which imply that no bitstreamelement of another slice is required for decoding any element of a givenslice.

Each slice contains a slice header which provides data for the slice tobe independently decodable. One example of a data element present in theslice header is the slice address, which is used for the decoder to knowthe spatial location of the slice. There are many more data elements inthe slice header.

HEVC uses previously decoded pictures for encoding and decoding acurrent picture. These previously decoded pictures are referred to asreference pictures. The encoder indicates to the decoder which referencepictures that are allowed to be used for decoding in a reference pictureset (RPS). The previously decoded pictures are stored in a decodedpicture buffer (DPB) and the RPS indicates which pictures in the DPBthat should be kept, i.e. which are allowed to be used as referencepictures and which pictures in the DPB that should be discarded, i.e.never be used for reference again. It should be noted that the encodercontains a copy of the decoder's DPB.

FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified scenario, where the pictures aredistinguished by a picture order count (POC). In this case the RPSindicates POC 1 and POC 2 which implies that the reference picturesidentified by POC 1 and POC2 should be kept in the DPBs and the picturesidentified by POC 3 should be discarded unless it should be outputtedfor display.

The reference picture set (RPS) for each picture consists of fivedifferent lists (not shown in FIG. 1) of reference pictures, alsoreferred to as the five RPS subsets: RefPicSetStCurrBefore consists ofall short-term reference pictures that are prior to the current picturein both decoding order and output order, and that are available forinter prediction of the current picture. RefPicSetStCurrAfter consistsof all short-term reference pictures that are prior to the currentpicture in decoding order, that succeed the current picture in outputorder, and that are made available for inter prediction of the currentpicture. RefPicSetStFoll consists of all short-term reference picturesthat are available for inter prediction of one or more of the picturesfollowing the current picture in decoding order, and that areunavailable for inter prediction of the current picture. RefPicSetLtCurrconsists of all long-term reference pictures that are available forinter prediction of the current picture. RefPicSetLtFoll consists of alllong-term reference pictures that are available for inter prediction ofone or more of the pictures following the current picture in decodingorder, and that are unavailable for inter prediction of the currentpicture.

The RPS controls which pictures that are possible to put in thereference picture list. However, a picture that is put in the referencepicture list may or may not be used for inter prediction but for apicture to be used for inter prediction (used for reference) for thecurrent picture it is required that the picture is included in areference picture list, in one of the lists denoted Curr. In short, RPScontrols, which reference pictures to keep in the DPB and whichreference pictures to discard from the DPB. Thus, pictures that arelisted in the RPS (any of the 5 RPS lists) are kept and pictures thatdoes not listed are discarded. Then RPS also controls which picturesthat are possible to put in the reference picture lists L0 and L1. Thepictures in the Foll lists can not be put in L0 and L1. L0 and L1 mayonly contain some of the pictures from Curr lists. Finally, the encoderchooses what reference pictures from L0 and L1 to use for interprediction for each block. It may for example choose to use onereference picture for all blocks, even if L0 and L1 contains manypictures.

The HEVC draft specification specifies that each picture shall belong toa temporal layer and that a syntax element called temporal_id shall bepresent for each picture in the bitstream, corresponding to the temporallayer the picture belongs to.

The temporal layers are ordered and have the property that a picture ofa lower temporal layer never references a picture of a higher temporallayer. Thus, higher temporal layers can be removed without affecting thelower temporal layers. The removal of temporal layers can be referred toas temporal scaling. Removal of layers can be done in an entity that isneither an encoder nor a decoder, such as a network node. Such an entitycan, but is not limited to, forward video bitstream packets from anencoder to a decoder and perform removal of temporal layers withoutperforming full video decoding on the incoming data.

The resulting bitstream after one or more temporal layers have beenremoved is called a subsequence. In HEVC it is possible to signal that apicture is a temporal layer switching point, which indicates that atthis picture it is possible for a decoder to start decoding moretemporal layers than what was decoded before the switching point. Theswitching point indication guarantees that no picture following theswitching point references a picture from before the switching pointthat might not have been decoded because it belongs to a higher temporallayer than what was decoded before the switching point. The switchingpoints are therefore very useful for a layer removal entity in order toknow when to stop removing a certain temporal layer and start forwardingit.

An example is shown in FIG. 2 where vertical axis represents temporallayer and the horizontal axis represent output order. The numbers in thepictures represent decoding order. The arrows represent interprediction.

Temporal switching can be performed at any point except at picture P₆(to picture P₇) since P₇ uses P₅ for inter prediction.

HEVC contains four different picture types: instant decoder refresh(IDR), clean random access (CRA), temporal layer access (TLA) andregular pictures (non-IDR, non-CRA and non-TLA).

IDR and CRA pictures must have temporal_id equal to 0. TLA pictures musthave temporal_id greater than 0.

The TLA picture type is used to define a temporal layer switching pointand is currently defined as:

temporal layer access (TLA) picture: A coded picture for which eachslice has nal_unit_type equal to 3; the TLA picture and all codedpictures with temporal_id greater than or equal to the temporal_id ofthe TLA picture that follow the TLA picture in decoding order shall notuse inter prediction from any picture with temporal_id greater than orequal to the temporal_id of the TLA picture that precedes the TLApicture in decoding order.

According to the current HEVC specification, it is allowed to include areference picture from the same or higher temporal layer in thereference picture set of a TLA picture. It is also allowed to include areference picture from the same temporal layer in the reference picturelists of the TLA picture as long as it is not used for inter prediction.However if a media-aware network element (MANE) performs temporal layerswitching at that point, the reference picture in the RPS from the sametemporal layer as the TLA picture would not be in the DPB.

However, it is specified for the RPS that:

When the first coded picture in the bitstream is an IDR picture or thecurrent coded picture is not a leading picture of the first codedpicture in the bitstream, there shall be no entry inRefPicSetStCurrBefore, RefPicSetStCurrAfter or RefPicSetLtCurr that isequal to “no reference picture”.

An entry being equal to “no reference picture” means that the picture isnot present in the DPB.

Thus this requirement on the RPS would violated which means that withthe current HEVC specification it is possible to use the TLA picturetype even though it is not possible to perform valid temporal layerswitching.

SUMMARY

A problem with the existing HEVC specification is that an encoder canuse the TLA picture type for a picture that has a picture P in itsreference picture set even though P precedes the TLA picture in decodingorder and has the same temporal identity. As long as picture P is notused for inter prediction this is fine. This requires a MANE to keeptrack of the RPS state so that it does not perform a switching at thatTLA picture. It would be preferable that the MANE only has to check thepicture types and be certain that switching at a TLA picture cannotresult in a bitstream that breaks bitstream conformance.

For example (referring to FIG. 2), it is possible to include P₁ in thereference picture set of P₂ and still code P₂ as a TLA picture (since P₁is not used by P₂ or any picture that follows P₂ in decoding order).Then P₁ can be included in the RefPicSetStCurrBefore of P₃ as long as itis not used for inter prediction. However if a temporal switch wasactually performed at P₂, P₁ would not be in the DPB when P₃ is decodedwhich would violate the requirement on the RPS.

Thus the purpose of the embodiments is to solve the problem with thecurrent definition of TLA pictures (also referred to as TSA pictures)that it is possible to use the TLA picture type even though switching atthe point of the TLA picture results in a bitstream that violates abitstream requirement.

In the embodiments presented herein a restriction that referencepictures from the same or higher temporal layer cannot be included inthe reference picture set for a TLA picture is introduced. In this way,it is guaranteed that a substream after temporal switching is alwaysbitstream conformant according to HEVC.

According to one aspect of the embodiments a method is provided. In themethod, a current picture belonging to a temporal level is encoded andan RPS for the current picture is determined, wherein the RPS indicatesthe reference pictures to be kept in the DPB when decoding the currentpicture. When it is determined that the current picture is a temporalswitching point such as a TSA picture, it is ensured that there is nopicture included in the RPS with temporal_id greater than or equal tothe temporal_id of the current picture.

According to a second aspect, a method performed in an element forparsing bits representing at least a part of a current picture, whereinthe current picture belongs to a temporal level identified by atemporal_id, is provided. The current picture is associated with an RPSindicating reference pictures to be kept in the DPB when decoding thecurrent picture. In the method, it is asserted that for each TSA picturethere is no picture included in the RPS of the temporal switching pointthat has the same or higher temporal_id as the TSA picture. If there issuch a picture it is interpreted as a bit-error, loss of data ornon-compliant bitstream.

According to a third aspect, a video encoder for encoding a currentpicture belonging to a temporal level identified by a temporal_id isprovided. The encoder comprises a unit for determining an RPS for thecurrent picture. The RPS indicates the reference pictures and to be keptin the DPB when decoding the current picture. The encoder furthercomprises an RPS controlling unit for ensuring that the RPS of thecurrent picture includes no picture having a temporal_id greater than orequal to the temporal_id of the current picture when the current picture550 is a temporal switching point.

According to a fourth aspect, an element for parsing bits representingat least a part of a current picture, wherein the current picturebelongs to a temporal level identified by a temporal_id is provided. Thecurrent picture is received by an input unit and the current picture isassociated with an RPS which indicates the reference pictures to be keptin the DPB when decoding the current picture. The element comprises aparsing unit configured to assert that for the current picture, whenbeing a temporal switching point, there is no picture included in theRPS of the current picture that has the same or higher temporal_id asthe current picture. The element further comprises a determining unitconfigured to interpret that as a bit-error, loss of data ornon-compliant bitstream when there is such a picture included in theRPS.

According to a fifth aspect, a transmitter comprising a video encoderfor encoding a current picture belonging to a temporal level identifiedby a temporal_id is provided. The encoder comprises a unit fordetermining an RPS for the current picture indicating reference picturesto be kept in the DPB when decoding the current picture, and an RPScontrolling unit for ensuring that the RPS of the current pictureincludes no picture having a temporal_id greater than or equal to thetemporal_id of the current picture when the current picture is atemporal switching point.

According to a sixth aspect, a receiver comprising an element forparsing bits representing at least a part of a current picture, whereinthe current picture belongs to a temporal level identified by atemporal_id is provided. The current picture is associated with an RPSindicating reference pictures to be kept in the DPB when decoding thecurrent picture. The element comprises a parsing unit configured toassert that for the current picture, when being a temporal switchingpoint, there is no picture included in the RPS of the current picturethat has the same or higher temporal_id as the current picture, and adetermining unit configured to interpret that as a bit-error, loss ofdata or non-compliant bitstream when there is such a picture included inthe RPS.

According to a seventh aspect, a device is provided. The devicecomprises a transmitter as mentioned above and/or a receiver as alsomentioned above. The device can be exemplified by video camera e.g. in amobile device or any other device for displaying or outputting a videostream.

According to an eighth aspect a computer program is provided. Thecomputer program comprises computer readable code units which when runon a processor causes the processor to:

determine an RPS for the current picture indicating reference picturesto be kept in the DPB when decoding the current picture, and

when the current picture is a temporal switching point,

ensure that the RPS of the current picture includes no picture having atemporal_id greater than or equal to the temporal_id of the currentpicture.

According to a ninth aspect a computer program product is also providedcomprising computer readable medium and a computer program according tothe eighth aspect stored on the computer readable medium.

According to a tenth aspect a computer program is provided. The computerprogram, comprises computer readable code units which when run on aprocessor causes the processor to:

-   -   assert that for the current picture, when being a temporal        switching point, there is no picture included in the RPS of the        current picture that has the same or higher temporal_id as the        current picture, if there is such a picture included in the RPS,    -   interpret that as a bit-error, loss of data or non-compliant        bitstream.

According to an eleventh aspect a computer program product is alsoprovided, comprising computer readable medium and a computer programaccording to tenth aspect stored on the computer readable medium.

An advantage with the embodiments is that the provided restriction makestemporal layer access pictures more useful. The embodiments can forinstance be used in a network node or MANE to perform temporal layerswitching without parsing and keeping track of RPSs. The network node orMANE needs only to inspect the NAL (Network Abstraction Layer) unit typeto safely perform temporal layer switching. Without the embodiments,such a switching may lead to the outputting of a bitstream that is notcompliant with HEVC.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates schematically an RPS and how the RPS indicates whichreference pictures to be kept in the DPB according to prior art.

FIG. 2 illustrates pictures in different temporal layers according toprior art.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are flowcharts illustrating methods according toembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates schematically an encoder and an element according toembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates schematically aa transmitter and a receiver accordingto embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate schematically the encoder and the elementimplemented by respective computer program and computer program product.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments of the present invention relates to video codingprocesses where previously decoded pictures are used for referencepictures when decoding a current picture and where each picture belongsto a temporal layer as explained above.

More specifically, the embodiments relate to pictures being a temporallayer switching point exemplified by temporal layer access (TLA)pictures, The temporal layer switching point indicates that at thispicture it is possible for a decoder to start decoding more temporallayers than what was decoded before the switching point. The switchingpoint indication guarantees that no picture following the switchingpoint references a picture from before the switching point that mightnot have been decoded because it belongs to a higher temporal layer thanwhat was decoded before the switching point. The switching points aretherefore very useful for a layer removal entity in order to know whento stop removing a certain temporal layer and start forwarding it.

The problem with the current definition of TLA pictures is that it ispossible to use the TLA picture type even though switching at the pointof the TLA picture results in a bitstream that violates the requirementon the RPS.

The TLA pictures are hereinafter referred to as TSA (temporal sub-layeraccess) pictures.

In one embodiment that is solved by a method to be performed by encoderapplying the restriction that:

“When the current picture is a TSA picture, there shall be no pictureincluded in the RPS with temporal_id greater than or equal to thetemporal_id of the current picture.”

A method according to one aspect of the embodiments is provided asillustrated in FIG. 3. In the method, the encoder encodes a currentpicture belonging to a temporal level and determines 301 an RPS for thecurrent picture, wherein the RPS indicates the reference pictures to bekept in the DPB when decoding the current picture. The referencepictures may be allowed to be used for reference pictures for thecurrent picture and/or future pictures. Typically, the RPS is determinedbefore the pixel values of the picture are encoded. When the encoderdetermines 302 that the current picture is a temporal switching pointsuch as aTSA picture, the encoder ensures 303 that there is no pictureincluded in the RPS with temporal_id greater than or equal to thetemporal_id of the current picture. Thus the pictures indicated in theRPS should not have a temporal_id greater than or equal to thetemporal_id of the current picture.

According to one embodiment, the picture, being a temporal switchingpoint, is a TSA picture which is defined as:

Temporal sub-layer access (TSA) picture: A coded picture for which eachslice has nal_unit_type equal to 3; the TSA picture and all codedpictures with temporal_id greater than or equal to the temporal_id ofthe TSA picture that follow the TSA picture in decoding order shall notinclude any picture in their reference picture set that precedes the TSApicture in decoding order and for which temporal_id is greater than orequal to the temporal_id of the TSA picture.

According to this embodiment, the encoder is configured to perform thefollowing:

When encoding a TSA picture the encoder ensures that the referencepictures indicated to be allowed for reference by the RPS of the TSApicture only include pictures with lower temporal_id than the TSApicture.

According to this embodiment, an element that operates on a bitstream(such as a network-node or a Media Aware Network Element) is configuredto perform the following:

By using the embodiments, the element receiving a decoded bitstream canperform temporal switching at a temporal switching point, exemplified bythe TSA picture, without scanning the RPS of the temporal switchingpoint for pictures in the same temporal layer with used_by_curr_pic_flagequal to 1 which indicates that the picture is allowed to be used forreference. The element can be sure that it is possible to performtemporal layer switching at any TSA picture.

Accordingly a method performed in an element is provided as illustratedin FIG. 4. The element is parsing bits representing at least a part of acurrent picture (i.e. the encoded bits), wherein the current picturebelongs to a temporal layer. The element may parse the header bits (e.g.the slice bits) of the picture (i.e. bits representing at least a partof the current picture) or the bits representing the entire picture. Ifthe element is a decoder the element parses the bits and also decodesthe bits.

In the method, the element asserts 401 that for each TSA picture (i.e.for each temporal switching point) there is no picture included in theRPS of the temporal switching point that has the same or highertemporal_id as the TSA picture. If there is such a picture 402 theelement is configured to interpret 403 that as a bit-error, loss of dataor non-compliant bitstream or non-compliant encoder and take appropriateaction (e.g. report the error or perform concealment). If there is nosuch picture the element is configured to interpret the bitstream as acorrect bitstream, forward the current picture to a decoder or decodethe TSA picture if the element comprises a decoder.

The element can be a decoder, or any element that operates on abitstream that can perform temporal switching such as a network-node ora Media Aware Network Element (MANE).

With reference according to FIG. 5, a video encoder 100 for encoding acurrent picture belonging to a temporal level identified by atemporal_id is provided. The encoder 100 comprises a unit 501 fordetermining an RPS 210 for the current picture 550. The RPS 210indicates the reference pictures to be kept in the DPB when decoding thecurrent picture 550. The encoder further comprises an RPS controllingunit 502 for ensuring that the RPS of the current picture includes nopicture having a temporal_id greater than or equal to the temporal_id ofthe current picture 550 when the current picture 550 is a temporalswitching point. Typically, the encoder 100 comprises an output unit 503configured to send the current picture 550 and the RPS 210 and also acopy of the DPB 150 of the decoder.

Further, the RPS controlling unit 502 is configured to ensure that theTSA picture and all coded pictures with temporal_id greater than orequal to the temporal_id of the TSA picture that follow the TSA picturein decoding order shall not include any picture in their referencepicture set that precedes the TSA picture in decoding order and forwhich temporal_id is greater than or equal to the temporal_id of the TSApicture.

With further reference to FIG. 5, an element 200 for parsing a currentpicture 550 belonging to a temporal level identified by a temporal_id.The current picture is received by an input unit 504 and the currentpicture is associated with an RPS 210 which indicates the referencepictures to be kept in the DPB when decoding the current picture. Hence,the reference pictures are allowed to be used for reference for thecurrent picture and/or the future pictures. The element 200 comprises aparsing unit 505 configured to assert that for the current picture 550,when being a temporal switching point, there is no picture included inthe RPS of the current picture that has the same or higher temporal_idas the current picture. The element further comprises a determining unit506 configured to interpret that as a bit-error, loss of data ornon-compliant bitstream when there is such a picture included in theRPS. If the element is a decoder it comprises a DPB 150 comprisingpreviously decoded pictures. The decoded pictures indicated by the RPSare allowed to be used as reference pictures when decoding the currentpicture and/or the future pictures.

According to an embodiment, the determining unit 506 is furtherconfigured to reporting the bit-error or loss of data or non-compliantbitstream and/or to perform concealment if there is at least onereference picture included in the RPS of the current picture that hasthe same or higher temporal_id as the current picture:

The current picture which is a temporal switching point, is according toan embodiment a temporal sub-layer access (TSA picture). The TSA pictureis defined as: The TSA and all coded pictures with temporal_id greaterthan or equal to the temporal_id of the TSA picture that follow the TSApicture in decoding order shall not include any picture in theirreference picture set that precedes the TSA picture in decoding orderand for which temporal_id is greater than or equal to the temporal_id ofthe TSA picture.

The TSA picture can further be defined as a temporal layer switchingpoint which is a coded picture for which each slice has a uniquenal_unit_type, e.g. nal_unit_type equal to 3.

Moreover, the unit for determining 506 may be configured to check forpictures that are not TSA pictures, that their RPS does not include apicture before a TSA picture that has a temporal_id equal or higher thanthe temporal_id of said TSA picture.

Turning to FIG. 6, a transmitter 601 comprising a video encoder 100 forencoding a current picture belonging to a temporal level identified by atemporal_id is provided. The encoder 100 comprises a unit 501 fordetermining an RPS for the current picture indicating reference picturesto be kept in the DPB when decoding the current picture, and an RPScontrolling unit 502 for ensuring that the RPS of the current pictureincludes no picture having a temporal_id greater than or equal to thetemporal_id of the current picture when the current picture is atemporal switching point.

In addition, a receiver 602 comprising an element 200 for parsing bitsrepresenting at least a part of a current picture, wherein the currentpicture belongs to a temporal level identified by a temporal_id isprovided. The current picture is associated with an RPS indicatingreference pictures to be kept in the DPB when decoding the currentpicture. The element 200 comprises a parsing unit 505 configured toassert that for the current picture, when being a temporal switchingpoint, there is no picture included in the RPS of the current picturethat has the same or higher temporal_id as the current picture, and adetermining unit 506 configured to interpret that as a bit-error, lossof data or non-compliant bitstream when there is such a picture includedin the RPS.

Further a device 610 comprising a transmitter 601 as mentioned aboveand/or a receiver 602 as also mentioned above. The device can beexemplified by video camera e.g. in a mobile device or any other devicefor displaying or outputting a video stream.

The embodiments can be applied for HEVC, which implies that the encodercan be an HEVC encoder and the decoder can be an HEVC decoder, but arenot limited to HEVC. The embodiments can be applied to any extension ofHEVC such as a scalable extension or multiview extension or to othersimilar video codecs.

Thus according to the embodiments, an encoder and any element thatoperates on a bitstream such as a network-node or a Media Aware NetworkElement is configured to make sure that when the current picture is aTSA picture, there shall be no picture included in the RPS withtemporal_id greater than or equal to the temporal_id of the currentpicture.

The different embodiments define different ways to implement theconditions and how to indicate the syntax element.

Further, the functionalities of the encoder (and similar entity) and thedecoder can be implemented by a respective processor and memory, whereinthe memory stores software code portions that can be executed by theprocessor to perform said functionalities.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, a computer program 703, is provided. Thecomputer program 703 comprises computer readable code units which whenrun on a processor (702) causes the processor (702) to:

determine an RPS for the current picture indicating the referencepictures to be kept in the DPB when decoding the current picture, and

when the current picture is a temporal switching point,

ensure that the RPS of the current picture includes no picture having atemporal_id greater than or equal to the temporal_id of the currentpicture.

A computer program product 701 is also provided comprising computerreadable medium and a computer program 703 stored on the computerreadable medium.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, a computer program 803 is provided. Thecomputer program 803, comprises computer readable code units which whenrun on a processor 802 causes the processor 802 to:

-   -   assert that for the current picture, when being a temporal        switching point, there is no picture included in the RPS of the        current picture that has the same or higher temporal_id as the        current picture, if there is such a picture included in the RPS,    -   interpret that as a bit-error, loss of data or non-compliant        bitstream.

A computer program product 801 is also provided, comprising computerreadable medium and a computer program 803 according to claim 28 storedon the computer readable medium.

1. A video encoder for encoding a current picture belonging to atemporal level identified by a temporal_id, the video encodercomprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storingprogram code that is executed by the at least one processor to performoperations comprising: determining a Reference Picture Set (RPS) for thecurrent picture indicating reference pictures that are kept in a decodedpicture buffer (DPB) when decoding the current picture; and encoding thecurrent picture ensuring that the RPS of the current picture includes nopicture having a temporal_id greater than or equal to the temporal_id ofthe current picture when the current picture is a temporal switchingpoint, wherein the current picture, being a temporal switching point, isa temporal sub-layer access (TSA) picture, the TSA picture and all codedpictures with temporal_id greater than or equal to the temporal_id ofthe TSA picture that follow the TSA picture in decoding order shall notinclude any picture in their reference picture set that precedes the TSApicture in decoding order and for which temporal_id is greater than orequal to the temporal_id of the TSA picture.
 2. The video encoderaccording to claim 1, wherein the temporal layer switching point is acoded picture for which each slice has a unique nal_unit_type.
 3. Thevideo encoder according to claim 2, wherein the TSA picture is a codedpicture for which each slice has a unique nal_unit_type equal to
 3. 4.The video encoder according to claim 1, wherein the encoder is a HighEfficiency Video Coding (HEVC) encoder.
 5. A parsing circuit for parsingbits representing at least a part of a current picture, wherein thecurrent picture belongs to a temporal level identified by a temporal_id,wherein the current picture is associated with a Reference Picture Set(RPS) indicating reference pictures to be kept in a decoded picturebuffer (DPB) when decoding the current picture, the parsing circuitcomprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storingprogram code that is executed by the at least one processor to performoperations comprising: determining that for the current picture, whenbeing a temporal switching point, there is no picture included in theRPS of the current picture that has the same or higher temporal_id asthe current picture; and responsive to the determination, identifyingthat a bit-error, loss of data, or non-compliant bitstream has occurred,wherein the current picture, being a temporal switching point, is atemporal sub-layer access (TSA) picture, the TSA picture and all codedpictures with temporal_id greater than or equal to the temporal_id ofthe TSA picture that follow the TSA picture in decoding order shall notinclude any picture in their reference picture set that precedes the TSApicture in decoding order and for which temporal_id is greater than orequal to the temporal_id of the TSA picture.
 6. The parsing circuitaccording to claim 5, wherein the operations further comprise:controlling decoding operations of the current picture responsive to theidentification that a bit-error, loss of data, or non-compliantbitstream has occurred.
 7. The parsing circuit according to claim 5,wherein the temporal layer switching point is a coded picture for whicheach slice has a unique nal_unit_type.
 8. The parsing circuit accordingto claim 7, wherein the TSA picture is a coded picture for which eachslice has a unique nal_unit_type equal to
 3. 9. The parsing circuitaccording to claim 5, wherein the parsing circuit is a network element.10. The parsing circuit according to claim 5, wherein the parsingcircuit is a decoder, wherein the decoder is a High Efficiency VideoCoding (HEVC) decoder.
 11. A computer program product for encoding acurrent picture belonging to a temporal level identified by atemporal_id, the computer program product comprising: a non-transitorycomputer readable medium storing program code that is executable by aprocessor to perform operations comprising: determining a ReferencePicture Set (RPS) for the current picture indicating reference picturesthat are kept in a decoded picture buffer (DPB) when decoding thecurrent picture; encoding the current picture ensuring that the RPS ofthe current picture includes no picture having a temporal_id greaterthan or equal to the temporal_id of the current picture when the currentpicture is a temporal switching point, wherein the current picture,being a temporal switching point, is a temporal sub-layer access (TSA)picture, the TSA picture and all coded pictures with temporal_id greaterthan or equal to the temporal_id of the TSA picture that follow the TSApicture in decoding order shall not include any picture in theirreference picture set that precedes the TSA picture in decoding orderand for which temporal_id is greater than or equal to the temporal_id ofthe TSA picture.
 12. The computer program product according to claim 11,wherein the temporal layer switching point is a coded picture for whicheach slice has a unique nal_unit_type.
 13. The computer program productaccording to claim 12, wherein the TSA picture is a coded picture forwhich each slice has a unique nal_unit_type equal to
 3. 14. A computerprogram product for parsing bits representing at least a part of acurrent picture, wherein the current picture belongs to a temporal levelidentified by a temporal_id, wherein the current picture is associatedwith a Reference Picture Set (RPS) indicating reference pictures to bekept in a decoded picture buffer (DPB) when decoding the currentpicture, the computer program product comprising: a non-transitorycomputer readable medium storing program code that is executable by aprocessor to perform operations comprising: determining that for thecurrent picture, when being a temporal switching point, there is nopicture included in the RPS of the current picture that has the same orhigher temporal_id as the current picture; and responsive to thedetermination, identifying that a bit-error, loss of data, ornon-compliant bitstream has occurred, wherein the current picture, beinga temporal switching point, is a temporal sub-layer access (TSA)picture, the TSA picture and all coded pictures with temporal_id greaterthan or equal to the temporal_id of the TSA picture that follow the TSApicture in decoding order shall not include any picture in theirreference picture set that precedes the TSA picture in decoding orderand for which temporal_id is greater than or equal to the temporal_id ofthe TSA picture.
 15. The computer program product according to claim 14,wherein the operations further comprise: controlling decoding operationsof the current picture responsive to the identification that abit-error, loss of data, or non-compliant bitstream has occurred. 16.The computer program product according to claim 14, wherein the temporallayer switching point is a coded picture for which each slice has aunique nal_unit_type.
 17. The computer program product according toclaim 16, wherein the TSA picture is a coded picture for which eachslice has a unique nal_unit_type equal to 3.